TIGRAI Online

Ethiopia's Opposition parties challenge election in supreme court

By Tigrai OnlineJune 16 2010

Ethiopia’s main opposition parties on Tuesday filed a court case against the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), which rejected their demands for a re-run of last month’s elections in which the ruling party had a landslide victory.

MEDREK, a coalition of eight political parties and the All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP) are the parties that filed court case against the NEBE.

In the elections, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) won 545 seats out of the 547 seats at the Ethiopian parliament, which led the opposition to demand for a re-run.

However, their demand for a re-run was earlier rejected by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, saying that their appeal was against the country’s constitution. NEBE also rejected their appeal last week.

MEDREK, which fielded a large number of candidates, next to the ruling part, won only one seat while an independent candidate won another seat.

NEBE is due to announce the final results of the election on 23 June 2010.